In A Previous Life
by Renoa Heartilly
Summary: A collection of Sasuhina one shots. Sometimes in canon, sometimes in different alternate universes and/or timelines, spanning different genres.
1. Rich Man Poor Woman

Request from Anonymous:

hinata is poor after being disowned by her family. sasuke is kind of a loner, maybe bumps into her shopping or helps her w groceries; in any case somehow meets up w her again by chance. this is after he's been brought home from his itachi days. but sets his sights on her and starts w little things like buying her expensive cooking ingredients (saffon?) and teas. maybe the first time he meets he pays for her groceries. they slowly fall in love BLAH BLAH BLAh im not a writer so i cant do this :c

* * *

For the fourth time this week he saw her in front of the bakery with her face to the glass and her hands clutching a worn-out wallet.

He didn't know her name, per se, but every day he'd notice more of the little things about her. Clean hair, for starters, that was always the first thing he noticed. Same two shirts and two identical pants she rotated over the course of the four days already, looks like she only owned one pair of shoes and the one tattered forehead protector. Sometimes she would smell like a hospital, other times she would give off a subtle scent of flowers; Sasuke wasn't proud that he noticed, not when he barely knew the girl.

Bright Hyuuga eyes would catch his attention, lastly, just as always, because she always noticed when he passed by and would look at him look at her for exactly two seconds before bowing respectfully.

"You work at the night clinic with Sakura, don't you?" Today he finally gave in to curiosity and asked.

The girl stared at him wide-eyed as if he'd just announced he was engaged to the Hokage. "Y- Yes! How did you know?"

"I was there when Naruto was in for stitches two days ago." The boy had knocked himself silly with a bottle of sake, trying to prove something or another. It was hilarious how easily Naruto got drunk, the medical staff didn't seem to think it too funny when they had to mop up vomit and glass shards off the reception floor.

"Oh." She breathed, unknowingly her eyes sent the cinnamon rolls in the shop front a longing glance. "Thank you for always taking care of Hokage sama."

"It's nothing." One would call it hanging out rather than taking care of, he was the Hokage's advisor, which was another name for paid friend. He had more money than he needed and too much time to kill. "Buying bread today as well, I see." Ah, there it is, the guilty eversion of the eyes. She wasn't buying bread for her family at all, was she? "Would you recommend something for me to get? I'm really bored with the multigrain loaf, and I don't know what else to try."

The Hyuuga whose name he was trying hard to fish out pointed a bright smile to the glass, foggy from her sticking her nose so close to it. "The Cinnamon swirl is fantastic! You really need to try it with some nice green tea, or- or maybe some dark coffee?" her uncertainty was refreshing, any other girl would have assumed a leading role and ordered him a triple-shot espresso no sugar skim milk with hazelnut and foam.

Or whatever it is girls ordered for their coffee these days.

"I'm not a fan of sweets." He decided flatly, "What's good for lunch?"

Maybe there was a slight tint of red in her face?

Probably the cold.

"Well… They make good curry bread, although bread for lunch isn't very healthy…" Her voice had dropped in volume the longer she spoke, and by the time she was finished her lips were moving without a single syllable passing through her windpipe. "Um, well. Curry bread. Yes."

It was hard to keep a straight face to something like that, it's been so long since he'd spoken to someone who wasn't all over him –or scared witless- that it was astonishing to find someone who spoke to him like a person. "Are you sure? It sounded like you had more to say back there."

Yup, it was a blush. "No, I'm sorry! I'm in no place to be giving you dietary advice!"

"What about you, eating bread every day for lunch."

Her smile froze, it hit her then that he'd known she stood here every day, that he was trying to figure out why. "A- Actually… I can't afford these breads anymore, I just… I get the cheap ones from the corner market down the street."

"Why?"

"Why…?" No one's asked her that before, even when she'd left home for two weeks now. Usually her friends would wear that sympathetic look and wish her luck. "I can't depend on my father anymore, so…"

"He cast you off?"

She forced a smile, he only wished he knew her name to scold her with it because nobody should work so hard to please others. "Well, he didn't exactly cast me off. We kind of… Argued. And I decided I want to try to be on my own for a while, it's just hard to manage living alone when the pay is so low…"

"The war messed up a bunch of careers, I'm sure." With a shift in weight and perspective, he turned and called to her over his shoulder. "So how many cinnamon rolls you want?"

"Eh? N- No please, I'll afford them on pay day!"

"Don't get me wrong, this isn't for free." He shot her a smirk at the doorway of the bakery, knowingly breaking down her resolve with every waft of warm-vanilla that escaped. "I'm dropping by the corner store in a bit and I can't carry everything alone, guess who's gonna help me?"

The girl beamed, relieved. "Thank you!"

Strange, no one's ever looked as pleased to be used by him before.

What a weird girl.

"By the way, what's your name?" He asked casually, "They write it on the cup, you know, it's the new fad or something."

"You can just tell them Hinata, they know my order! Thank you for your generosity!" She bowed again, nearly knocking her head on the swinging door.

"Wait for me." The bell jingled pleasantly, alarming him to the glass barrier that now stood between him and Hyuuga Hinata, and the fact that he will probably subject himself to many an embarrassment if he wanted Naruto to tell him more about her.

In the meantime, the first priority is to figure out whether she can cook or not, and if so, how to convince her to make him a hot meal because by god he'd had it with soba bread and noisy lunch partners.

End,

* * *

Author's note: Hello friends! this is not a new long fanfic (i need a break!) but a dumping spot for the random scenes or prompts i write for this couple, either by request from askers on Tumblr or by general inspiration (mostly AUs i want to write about without going off into a novel-length story).

if you're read my previous attempt at a cocktail fic (a hundred fallen petals) in which case thank you! but this will not be a reposting of that, these are fresh ones written from scratch even if the theme or setting might repeat itself (the gundam one was amusing! maybe i'll write one in that setting again XD )

i don't know how many chapters this will have (if at all) or when i will be updating, so if you're interested in a bunch of short bursts of pure sasuhina, please make sure to click the button below to follow the story and you'll get a notification in your email when a new chapter is up. If you have any ideas for prompts or inspiration please write them below or in my tumblr ask box and i will see if i can write them (no promises though haha but seriously i will not write a cliche or NSFW prompt just so you know)


	2. Hot and Cold

Sasuke's hands were on the steering wheel at exactly 10 and 2, fingers curled firmly over the expensive leather save for a thumb that occasionally brushed the emergency button. He hadn't decided if he wanted to push it just yet, a quick glance at the rearview mirror and the side mirrors confirmed that even if he did, there was nobody else on the road but him.

Or rather, them.

The girl in the passenger's seat next to him was still crying, her bare feet covered in crumpled tissues, soaked with her fluids, and his tissue box was hiding in her lap between the folds of the dirty dress she wore. He tried not to look for too long, one because she had white eyes that scared the everliving crap out of him when he pulled over to give her a ride, two because right now there was very little to observe but a curtain of damp hair, and his jacket that she found draped on the seat and decided to put on.

Rain was still pounding on the windshield faster than the wipers could clear it away, he wished he could go faster to deliver this stranger (ghost?) to the nearest motel, but speeding ahead in this rain, zooming out of a darkened woods unannounced, was the best way to take them to the other side.

Mom warned him about the woman in white; a phenomenon observed in different cultures around the world. The lady that stood to the side of a highway who devoured horny men if they ever offered her a ride.

He wouldn't have stopped, honestly, any other time he wouldn't have; for a split second when the lights hit her just as he passed into the entrance of the woodland he thought she was familiar.

She had been familiar, a part of him argued, you just need to remember how.

Her name escaped him, what he remembered was her family name that had always caused his father to roll his eyes in displeasure and his brother to scoff in resentment. Hyuuga was the rivaling clan, the only family-owned company left in this economy that wrestled for elbow space in the importing business.

Her dress might have been torn and dirty, but the workmanship was obviously expensive, the sequins on the frills at the skirt and the careful embroidery on the sleeves spoke volumes. She didn't wear any jewelry, in fact, she wore nothing but the dress.

He was too distracted by her quiet gasps, still not too convinced she wouldn't devour him if he spoke. What if she'd been assaulted? Maybe he should offer her a phone call to retrieve her stolen accessories, or authorities if she had been kidnapped and dumped here.

Hell he should start by asking if she was really there, next to him, bawling her eyes out without stopping to replenish all the liquids she's losing at light speed.

God damn it…

He was Uchiha Sasuke, he'd been trained to defend himself verbally and physically since he was three; he can do this!

"How long are you gonna keep crying?" He glanced at the rearview mirror again just to make sure that the deer that crossed the road behind them was indeed a deer, and not a ghost or anything- not that he was scared of ghosts alright. The girl didn't answer right away, so he shot her a questioning look for just an instant.

One instant was enough, she'd been looking at him with those inhumanly blank eyes; it never failed to make his stomach turn. Had he not been wearing cologne to Naruto's party, surely he would have been able to smell her rotting flesh. Because how else was someone so alive have so dead a stare?

His gun was in the glove compartment, if she wasn't about to jump on his throat he could swivel the car and pull it out. His foot released the pressure on the pedal just a notch when her hand reached into the front of her dress; so sure he was that she was bringing out some spray or drug that it was a surprise to see her pull out dead tree leaves and toss them down to join the mess at her feet. "Sorry. Thank you."

It was the very first time he heard her voice, it was uncharacteristically small and not at all the demonic two-tone he'd expected to hear.

Maybe mom's superstitions were starting to get to him after all…

"Are you hurt?"

"No." She sniffled and barely kept herself from bursting into tears again, as if she was indeed hurt but not in the way he'd enquired about.

Sasuke pulled the half-empty bottle of water he'd dropped into the cup holder and handed it to her, she drank it in one go without stopping to consider that it might be drugged or otherwise contaminated. Easing into the main road, there was now the occasional car speeding by and he no longer had to worry about random animals popping out of the tree line.

He could talk now. "What's your name?"

The girl peered at him curiously, almost fearfully, the dark make up around her eyes had long since trailed down her cheeks and her hair was sticking to thin cracked lips. "H- Hinata."

It was a good sign to see that she was as wary of him as he was of her; maybe she wasn't about to eat him whole after all. "Not to get involved in your personal issues or anything, but how the hell did this happen?"

"You mean my dress…?"

"I mean your everything."

She made a small sound that pinched him right in the center of his stomach, a peep that was halfway between a laugh and a hum of contemplation. It made his toes curl and he had no idea why that would be. "I'm glad… I didn't think you would be the kind of person to worry about someone like me, but you're nicer than I thought."

The hell? "You know me?"

Oh god… she's not another stalker, is she?

"Not really…" She breathed out a shaky sigh, pulled out three tissues and wiped her face and fringe at leisure. "I- I go to management class with Uzumaki Naruto. You show up sometimes, don't you?"

It was a relief to know he hadn't picked up some wet stranger, his instinct was correct: she really did belong to Naruto's circle. "Did your car break down on your way back from the party or something? It's been over for two hours you know."

"I know." She didn't add to that, not until she cried into another batch of tissues for another ten minutes, bringing her knees up to her chin to better control the meltdown. When she finally calmed down she spoke again, her voice raw. "I was there first, the party, I mean. I was helping, and then… Sakura was there too, to help, you know…"

"You don't need to explain."

"it was just- Oh… Okay. Sorry."

The bright light of a patrol car zooming by them drew his attention for a while and when it disappeared ahead, he spared the shivering girl another glance. Her breath was forming condensation on the glass, she really was content just shutting up and not trying to gain his sympathies.

It was impressive. "If you're not hurt, I mean."

"Hm?"

He tried not to cringe, really. "As long as you weren't in some accident or something, you know. If you want to tell me someone assaulted you or something you can talk…"

"No."

Sasuke waited, for the inevitable explosion of tears, for the rant, for the girl to attempt to clear up the misunderstanding –if there ever was one- or to go ahead and launch into an account of her day's happenings. She did nothing of the sort, this Hinata, she just tried to cover her knees with the ends of his jacket and stare herself out of existence.

What the hell was someone like her doing in the middle of the woods?

No car, no purse, no phone, not even shoes. How did she even get here? Naruto's house was in the middle of the city, it would take four hours just to get here on foot, let alone to the next city. Someone like her, from that family, from that background; she should have a car and a personal driver waiting for her beck and call.

Why the hell was she traveling the countryside barefoot in the middle of the night, unescorted?

He couldn't help it, in this empty silence and the mystery that beckoned, he was itching for answers.

"My phone is in the backseat if you want to make a call."

The girl looked at him slowly, nodded, but then resumed her place by the window to stare into the darkness beyond the glass. "No one cares…"

Her voice was so small, and the thunder so loud, he thought he'd imagined it. "Were you trying to die there? Because there's an opening for a U turn just ahead."

"No! Not at all!" she straightened at the back. "T-Thank you for helping me, by the way."

"I wasn't going to, but you looked familiar." He admitted, finally giving in and cranking the heater a few degrees. The girl's chattering teeth were starting to become harder to ignore, her toes were red, too; she must have been walking around the damp shrubbery for a while. "You owe me."

"Of course." She turned to look at him again, those white eyes glossy and bloodshot, lips slightly curved up like she wasn't sure she was allowed to smile. "Next time you're stranded in the woods, I will be right there to pick you up."

Snort. "That's a relief, thank god I have you in my life now, what would I have done without you?" at first he was bitter and unimpressed, but the longer he put on the act the more the girl fought a laugh behind a twisted tissue. The twinkle in her eyes was strange, like the lights that would pop up in his peripheral vision when Naruto hit him in the nose. "You know who I am, then?"

"Mm. Uchiha Sasuke, right?" she rubbed her cold toes with fingers she warmed by the air conditioning vent. "Pleasure to meet you."

"You're sopping wet on my leather seats, can't say the pleasure's mine."

"Sorry."

"I was joking." He deadpanned, fixing her with a blank stare for as long as he could afford to look away from the road. Her reaction was hilarious, like a mouse that wasn't sure if the cat wanted to eat it or adopt it. "There's a station up ahead, you want anything?"

"No thank you."

"The nearest city isn't for another hour." He warned.

She shook her head no, unknowingly sending a few drops of water flying to his leg. "I'm just glad you're giving me a ride at all."

"Low self esteem is never attractive." He stopped anyway, to refuel and to visit the deserted shop to grab some quick refreshments and an umbrella. He dropped the bag between them as he settled into the seat, by the time he shook water out of his hair and shoes he thought she would have torn through the contents curiously. It was almost disappointing that she didn't; he hated how she was playing this game well, the hard-to-get game.

He was no stranger to girls, he knew everything there was to know about their methods of securing boyfriends (or rich husbands) his brother and father had all but drilled it into his head that any woman who approached him was after his money first, and his person second. They, the one who married a woman he loves and the one engaged to the one he loves. A bunch of hypocrites, they were, but liars they were not.

Up until now all the girls were the same, annoying, clingy, and very much predictable.

He'd had his fare share of girlfriends, but it was boring from the get-go when he knew the end result in advance: a lukewarm breakup at the end of an expensive date. So boring, that he'd decided not to get involved with anyone until he finished this year, at least. Next year would be the last of his college education, and he would be too busy with school and getting positioned at father's company that even if he had someone to date, there will be no time to do it.

But she wasn't playing the game at all, she was curled up in her seat as far away from him as possible, while trying to cover up as much of her skin as she could.

It was somewhat of a relief to have met her after deciding to not play the dating game anymore, this way it could be clear from the start that the limit is set, but it was also frustrating that someone interesting showed up _after_ he'd made such a decision.

"There's hot tea in the bag, I didn't know what you liked so I got a pink one." he observed her secretly as he pulled on the seatbelt and adjusted his limbs to get comfortable for the long ride.

Only now did she allow herself to look into the contents, and pulled out the green tea bottle, still warm from the heated vending machine. "May I have the green tea instead, please?"

His frown was because the rain was heavier beyond the station, and because he really didn't want to drink peach tea. "Whatever."

"Thank you."

Once the bright lights of the station were in his rearview mirror, he reached blindly into the bag to beat her to the curry bun. "There's cinnamon rolls, too. They were out of any other buns, hope you don't mind."

"You're so generous… You didn't have to." She sobbed into the rim of her tea, covered her face with a forearm and desperately tried to stifle her hiccups in the direction of the glass.

The annoyance he felt initially gave way to serious concern the longer she struggled to control herself. This girl that studied in his same class, who knew his full name, who was his friend's go-to girl to help him with a grand birthday party; she was no stranger even if they've never spoken before. He shouldn't feel anything, not towards her, the spoiled princess of the Hyuuga.

But he did, god damn it, he was only human.

His thumb finally brushed that emergency button and he pulled over to the side of the road, rain pounded on the glass and metal but it was drowned out in the soft gasps. "What happened in that party?"

"It's nothing…"

"Yeah, And I'm a legendary ninja assassin." He scoffed, "Tell me."

For the first time since he picked her up she looked at him with resistant in her eyes, like she'd fight him if he pressed her on the matter, like it shouldn't be his business to know. And then she softened altogether, her shoulders slumped (seemingly tiny in his padded jacket) her eyes pointed down to her drink, her voice barely a whisper. "N- Naruto loves Sakura…"

His mouth opened to spit out a "So?" but froze halfway; finally realizing what this was all about. "Really? All that drama over a boy? You know what, I'm turning this car around and I'm putting you back in those trees. You deal with the bears and deer on your own."

"Please don't!" She cried, clinging to the hand he rested on the hand break. "I'll- I'll be quiet, so-!"

"I was joking." This time she didn't smile, if anything, the tears in her lashes turned big and fat and rolled down her face unobstructed. He was a jerk and a spoiled rich boy, that much he would admit, a bully he was not. At a loss of what to say or do for her to stop crying, he ripped open a cinnamon roll and pushed it into her mouth. "I'll take you home, okay? I was kidding, it was a joke."

It was a pitiful sight, she ate and drank like a scolded child, eating more salt than sugar and drinking more tears than tea.

Sasuke crossed his arms over the wheel and watched the drops of rain disappear down the slope of glass, chewing quietly on his curry bun with no more words to add. When it was all gone, he reached into the bag for a cinnamon roll but there wasn't any. He had to recount the items he bought and compare them to how much money he spent before realizing that, indeed, he had bought one curry bun and three cinnamon rolls.

Three rolls whose bags were now empty and crumpled with the tissues on the floor mat.

This girl devoured three pastries in the time it took him to tear through one.

That's new.

He drove, the rain let up every now and then, and lightening struck in the distance. For a while he'd even forgotten that there was another person in the car with him. Hinata was politely quiet, somewhat brighter in the face after a surge of sugar and warmth in the belly, quiet nonetheless.

The few times their eyes met she didn't try to initiate conversation, and he was completely okay with that. The fourth time he shot her a glance just to see if she'd fallen asleep, she offered a small exasperated smile that spoke several gentle volumes of 'I won't speak if you won't speak'.

Strangely, her eyes weren't as morbidly blank as they have been an hour ago.

He was still curious about why she was in such a state, but he'd already pestered her enough. If she'd been some other girl (like Haruno Sakura from Medical who'd been up in his face until last semester) all he had to do was wait long enough and her patience would snap, and she would tell him all the little gritty details.

She wasn't about to, apparently, because already the hour was coming to an end, already signs of civilization were turning up that they were getting closer to the big city, and she was nowhere near opening her mouth.

It was almost pleasant.

Defeated, he asked right out, at the first traffic light that would take them to the busy main street. "So I assume you didn't drive to Naruto's?"

Embarrassed and uncertain about this unreadable young man, Hinata just nodded. His lack of verbal response had her peeking up through her messy hair to gauge his reaction, it was mostly guess work but she assumed he wanted to know more. "Sakura drove me there."

The blaring horn of a truck zooming by startled them both, launching the boy into a colorful series of cusses that made her face redder than crying ever did. They turned a corner to the main street and stopped at another light, this one less crowded. "What a shallow one, that pink haired hipster."

"She's my friend…"

"Do you see yourself? What kind of friend would drive you across the country and then leave you to walk back?"

"She didn't! I- I walked myself… It's not her fault. I got upset when I saw… And- and I thought I would ride a bus but I'd forgotten to take my purse so…"

"You thought you could make it on foot? Are you a complete idiot?"

"Sorr- No! I hoped one of my other friends would pass through but…"

"Whatever. Where do you live?"

Indignant, Hinata straightened her back and put her feet down. "I can walk from here."

"Just like you walked yourself out of the forest."

"…Yes."

"Where do you live." It wasn't a question.

With tightly pressed lips, Hinata refused to answer.

"I'll take you to my place if you don't tell me, I must warn you though, I live alone."

"Eh?" She curled up again, aware of the implications. "F- Fourth street! I live on fourth street Hyuuga, in the residential district with the big flame insignia on the mountain."

How convenient, he had to pass through it to get to his apartment in the Uchiha business district. "I pass through here every day, how come I've never seen you before?"

The genuine question eased her worries, he wasn't about to kidnap her to his dodgy apartment after all. "I don't know…"

"What car do you drive? Or do you hire a driver?"

"No…"

Well that wasn't an answer! "You still live with your parents?"

"No…"

"Good, I'd hate to have to explain this to anyone." He did a turn again, this time into a quieter neighborhood. "What happened, anyway? Your dress, your shoes?"

"I fell." she shrugged, blushing noticeably. "I- I didn't think the bridge was that brittle, so I walked over it… The river just took me away, before I knew it, my shoes were gone and I had no idea where I was…"

Sasuke's brows furrowed. "How long have you been out? No one's missed you at the party at all?"

"Maybe." She sighed, or perhaps she was fighting another bout of tears. "My phone was in my purse, on the couch, even if they called I wouldn't know…"

He didn't know what bothered him more, the fact that he'd sat on that couch all day and not once did he hear a phone go off, or that this girl had been in desperate need of it and of him and all he did was sit there without realizing it. "And your family didn't look for you at all? I know Hyuuga can be traditional with their girls."

"Mm…" There it was again, that tiny sound that tickled his insides. "No."

"No?"

"No… They don't care about me." His confused glance left her dry in the mouth, she knew she had to explain. If it was someone else, she would have shrugged it off, but an Uchiha would understand… Probably. "My younger sister just graduated college in another country, with better GPA than I can ever achieve… She's the favorite right now, so…"

"You're still a piece on their board." If what she said bothered him, he didn't show it. "These kinds of families, _our_ families, you're never really free of them. They leave you alone for a while, but when you're useful again you can bet they'll know where to find you."

"Please turn here, it's the purple apartment complex."

He did. "I know what it's like to know you'll never live up to your brother's, or sister's, greatness, but the way I look at it is that's a blessing more than a curse. You get to live your life, at least for a while."

"Mm." She nodded, and thanked him again as the car stopped in front of her building. "Thank you very much, I'll never forget this. Please allow me to pay you back in any way I can."

His hand closed around her wrist, startling them both. "Listen to me, Hyuuga, It gets better, it always does. Do you understand?"

She had to blink five times before realization hit. "I wasn't trying to kill myself!"

"I didn't say that."

"You meant it! I didn't! I mean- I really was- it was a bridge! How was I supposed to- for a boy? Naruto is- well, yes, but-!" she shut her mouth firmly, relaxed her shoulders, and eased her arm in his grip until her palm was touching his. That seemed to make him want to pull away, but she held it in place anyway, if at least to steal some of the impossible heat he was radiating through his skin. "Thank you, really."

"Fine, whatever. Don't forget to return my coat later. And grab and umbrella from the bag, not like it's much use after jumping in a river but y'know."

She giggled, the sound was genuinely easy on his ears, like a sweet wind chime on a summer day. "If you want, you can come up and have a warm cup of tea?"

"I'm not interested." He lied, "Maybe we'll see each other at class or something."

"Ok. Thank you." she let his hand go, and it was the hardest thing she had to do before opening the door and putting her foot on the icy cold concrete. "Ne, if I don't show up next week, it must mean I'm down with a cold."

Sasuke turned the engine off, undid his seatbelt, and tore the door open to step out. He shut it with a slam and stomped around the car to meet her at the building double doors, soaked. "You know what, I'll drink your goddamn tea and then we'll be even. That's it, one cup and I'm out."

Just stop looking so miserable!

Hyuuga Hinata beamed and punched in the numbers to open the doors, hiding behind her thick hair the tears of relief that welled in her eyes for not being utterly alone in the world for a little while more.

She couldn't see the way he looked at her as she led him up the stairs, not the way she held her shoulders low and defenseless, not the noticeable weakness in her left ankle that had her lean on the railing for support. She was the spitting image of himself back when he couldn't get accepted at his first college of choice, and father was disappointed, and Itachi came home with a beautiful successful bride-to-be, and it felt like the world had ended and he'd failed irreversibly and nothing mattered anymore.

Naruto had been there for him then, and if the blonde wasn't about to do the same for this girl, maybe he can lend her a hand until she could buy herself some new shoes and stand on her own two feet.

She was cute and it'll piss dad off, win-win situation right here.


	3. Pride and Prejudice

"But I'd rather not go to Finance! Uchiha Sasuke works there!" Hinata squeaked, glancing nervously between Kiba from the K9 Squad and the innocently lit elevator button number 7.

"C'mon, you know who else works on Floor 7?"

Her face warmed even before her lips spoke the name, "Uzumaki… Naruto."

"Ding dong!" He grinned, "It's a minute or two to midnight, you know what happens at new year's eve at exactly midnight?"

Begrudgingly, she nodded to the champagne glass in her hand. "The countdown?"

"Exactly!" The soft chime of the elevator announced their arrival to the floor, Kiba howled with excitement, Hinata shrunk as a surprise stomach ache ripped through her gut.

On the one side, she would love to celebrate new year's with Naruto, it would make her the happiest woman in this building to start a new year with great luck.

On the other, Uchiha Sasuke absolutely hated her.

He would glare at her every time their eyes locked in any one of department's meetings, which so happened to be a twice-a-week arrangement. Twice a week she had to suffer through a whole hour of one pissed off Uchiha trying to do a presentation without even glancing in her general direction. A lowly accountant such as herself had very little control over whether or not she could skip these meetings, especially when her boss required her to take notes so he could review them later.

The hallway was vast and endless behind Kiba's tall figure, more so because somewhere out there stood a formidable young man with swept black hair surrounded by hoards of adoring office ladies. In fact, said mob was already creating a choke point at the entrance of the offices, with the man himself standing at the tightest spot of the funnel in a way that made it impossible for anyone to go in or out without running into him.

"Maybe we should go back down, Kiba…"

"Do you see him?"

"No… Do you smell him?"

"Nope."

Uzumaki Naruto was not on this floor.

"Ohh it's starting!" The boy hollered at the giant screen on the far end of the room, it's contents now a festive countdown to the new year's arrival by the second.

10, 9, 8,

Her eyes flickered up for just an instant, instinctively aware that someone was looking at her.

7, 6, 5, 4

Uchiha Sasuke had initiated eye contact, and it was the coldest she'd ever been since December began.

3, 2, 1,

"Happy New Yeaaaaaar!"

The clanking of glasses, joyous cheering and the smooching of several couples in the background as the clock struck Twelve; Uchiha Sasuke was looking at her far too intensely to notice any of it.

Kiba launched himself at the frosty blonde from Foreign Affairs with the four pigtails, she didn't seem at all surprised, nor did she mind prolonging the tradition of sharing a good luck kiss into something more. It seems like everybody else had been using it as an excuse to score some points with crushes, it was the only chance to get it done without overstepping office policy.

The gathering of eligible, single and definitely attractive ladies around the General Manager didn't seem to register, because he continued to glare at her like she was a stapler that ran out of staples.

"Hyuuga." He said casually, lifting his glass in greeting.

"Yes?" Oh god, he's talking to her.

"All good?"

"Yes!"

He really was talking to her!

...Why was he talking to her?

Kiba had jokingly warned her of the wrath of the pissed Uchiha, that one glare from this foul beast was equal to pulling a 'terribly unlucky' slip from New Year's Fortune lottery.

It had been her first day on the job, first time wearing high heels, first time riding an elevator for seven floors straight and it made her dizzy. And it had been an accident, really; she didn't mean to spill Naruto's mocha Cappacino with an extra shot of chocolate, skim milk, decaf, on Uchiha Sasuke's shirt!

Having never gotten the chance to apologize about ruining a perfectly respectable –and expensive!- silk garment with steaming hot coffee, she attempted to go on with life hoping for a good time to fix it. The chances slipped away one by one and after their fifth encounter in that crowded meeting room, it seemed like no apology was better than a late one.

It didn't help that Uchiha made it hard to have any one-on-one conversations with her, and almost always spent his lunch break in the dining hall with Naruto, there was no way she could approach either of them!

Or at least, that's what she tells herself to sleep at night; because the alternative would be that Uchiha despises her so fully that he worked extra hard to avoid her.

He's gonna spill his champagne on her, she deduced by his calculative gaze. it's the best chance to get back at her, in fact, she'd been dreading it and anticipating it for months.

Go ahead, douse me with your sparkly beverage!

What he did, though, was turn fully in her direction and away from the row of expectant smiles –and puckered lips- of his coworkers. "Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year, sir!" She tipped her glass to clank gently against his, the mouth she pursed to take a sip did not touch the cold smooth rim, but a pair of Uchiha lips.

It was simple and polite and it was over before she could wrap her head around it. She stared after him with eyes wide and mouth a-tingle, watching wordlessly as he downed the last of his glass and disappeared into his office like nothing was out of the ordinary.

In his luxurious leather swivel chair, Uchiha Sasuke tried to get back to work, but the intoxication that muddled his senses had little to do with the alcohol and everything to do with the sweet floral scent of a docile accountant.

The one and only woman who spilled her coffee on him with no ulterior motives, and had the confidence to follow through with his request to go on with her life without making a big deal out of it.

Well, now they were even; she ruined his new shirt and he ruined her new year's eve by convincing Naruto to celebrate the countdown in Sakura's department down in Public Affairs.

With that out of the way, maybe now they can have a chance at an actual conversation.


End file.
